


Traitor Jay AU

by AlexIsMyBirdsName



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25740745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexIsMyBirdsName/pseuds/AlexIsMyBirdsName
Summary: This is a bit different from a fanfiction or drabble! It's going over an AU I've made and am hyperfixating over.
Relationships: Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Overall AU

\- During Marble Hornets Jay gets latched onto by The Operator as well as Alex. Jay starts to loose it without having any information about what’s happening and being unable to confide in anyone. Unlike Marble Hornets Jay doesn’t come into the investigation slowly, one day he has a normal life, the next day he’s being teleported around Rosswood chased by an Eldritch Abomination. 

\- He ends up breaking and telling Alex everything. Alex admits he’s going through the same thing, but Jay doesn’t have to worry, he has a plan. Alex tells Jay about his plan to kill the MH crew to stop The Operator’s infection. Jay said it was crazy and left. 

\- When Brian goes missing, Jay doesn’t wonder what happened. But to his surprise, The Operator’s effects lessen. And Jay can’t help but start to think Alex had a point. At this point, Alex and Jay team up to end this mess once and for all.

\- The entire crew knows Alex is a bit crazy, so Alex uses Jay to lure them into an abandoned building so Alex can kill them. After most of the crew’s deaths, the only person who's left is Tim. 

\- Alex has a personal vendetta against Tim for a reason Jay isn’t aware of and goes off to finish Tim by himself, but Tim triumphs, and is able to escape. Enraged, Alex burns his house down as a warning.

\- To Jay’s surprise he gets a call from Tim. During the call Tim warns for Jay to avoid Alex and asks if they can meet somewhere. 

\- Alex encourages Jay to meet with him so they can finish it. Jay complies but is surprised to see how vulnerable and afraid Tim seems. Jay starts to feel guilty about everything and offers to buy Tim a hotel room for the night. Tim accepts given he has no other option and says Jay should stay with him so he isn’t attacked by Alex. Jay agree’s convincing himself that he’s doing this to take Tim by surprise. 

\- Jay tells Alex he’s going to use Tim to learn more about The Operator before finishing it. Alex doesn’t think it’s a bad idea and agree’s. 

\- But the more Jay learns more about Tim the less he has the will to go through with it. Tim is brave, funny, kind, and most of all doesn’t deserve to die. The more Jay learns about Tim’s childhood the more he’s convinced Tim is the victim, not the perpetrator in all this. The one still sane voice in Jay’s mind tells him Alex is the real patient zero by feeding that thing, not Tim. 

\- Alex is getting impatient as Jay keeps coming up with increasingly stupid excuses as to why they can’t attack Tim. Eventually Alex tells Jay to bring Tim to Benedict Hall so he can put a stop to everything, or Alex will assume the worst and come after them himself. 

\- This AU has three endings, “Backstabber”, “Redemption”, “Truthful”.

\- In "backstabber," Jay fully submits to The Operator and thinks Alex is right. With a heavy heart, Jay drives Tim to Benedict Hall under the lie he's heard from Brian, and he wants to meet there to talk about Alex. All it takes is for Tim to see Alex for all the pieces to come together. Jay's late-night phone calls, Jay's lack of concern for his former friends, his defending of Alex. By the time Tim realizes he was backstabbed this entire time, a bullet enters his side, and it's too late to run. In his last moments, his fury turns to Jay, someone Tim cared for and trusted very much. Tim expresses his betrayal while all Jay can silently stare as Tim's body goes more and more still until he doesn't move at all.

\- In “Redemption”, Jay drives Tim to Benedict Hall, but guilt starts to gnaw away at him. He looks at Tim humming peacefully in the passenger and he just can’t...but he doesn’t know what else to do. When they arrive, they are greeted by Alex almost immediately, who has picked up on Jay’s affection towards Tim. At this point, Jay knows he can’t let Tim die here and so attacks Alex trying to get the gun. Tim is shocked, realizing what happened as soon as he saw Alex, but he can see Jay is at least trying to make it right. Alex wrestles Jay off with ease and almost kills him before Tim tackles him. Tim and Alex fight and the gun skids to the floor in the struggle. Alex gets the upper hand and starts to strangle Tim, and is shot dead by Jay. Tim isn’t sure what to do, he’s in shock and so is Jay, but he knows he can’t leave Jay alone to handle this. They go back to the hotel in silence, not sure what to do next but with the silent promise that they’ll get help together.

\- In "Truthful," Jay feels terrified by Alex's phone call and realizes he has to tell Tim the truth for all of them to get out of this. Tim is understandably furious. After punching Jay and lots of red-faced screaming, Tim can relax just enough to realizes they have to work together, or they won't get out of this. Reluctantly, Tim agrees to keep working with Jay for both their safety's. They leave the motel quickly on the run from Alex. As a couple of weeks go by, Tim starts to forgive Jay, seeing how remorseful and regretful he is. Jay wants to save Alex seeing how Jay is willing to change. Jay knows he can never have a full redeemed for the things he did, but saving Alex and protecting Tim is an excellent place to start.


	2. Traitor Jay "Backstabber” Ending Continuation: “It Gets Sadder”

\- Jay has a much harder time processing Tim’s death then he could’ve ever thought. He had a lot of guilt for what happened to Seth, Sarah, and Amy but Tim feels different. Tim’s final words haunt Jay and seem to be burnt into every thought he has.

\- Maybe that’s why he keeps wearing the extra flannel Tim left in the back of the car. 

\- Alex is annoyed by Jay’s regrets. He should know by now it had to be done. Though it is strange how The Operator’s influence hasn’t eased up any....but he learnt with Brian not to think about it to much. Why should it be his fault that only he and Jay could do what’s needed? 

\- Jay has to do a few mental gymnastics to convince himself that killing Tim wasn’t pointless. And somewhere in his static filled mind Jay decides that someone else must be carrying The Operator disease.

\- Starting with The Hooded man who’s been sending him various tapes for the past few months. Not like he’s cared enough to watch them. But if he’s had any contact with Jay then he’s probably infected as well. And what about Amy’s roommate Jessica? She’s probably infected, so once those two are handled Tim’s death won’t be in vain. 

\- Alex agree’s and ask Jay for a plan, only getting a blank stare and a shrug of the shoulders. Alex can feel himself grow progressively more angry at Jay. Jay was helpful but now he’s not. Now all he does is stare silently until nothingness. He’s quickly becoming an obstacle to Alex’s mission. 

\- Jay isn’t sure what to do next. Luring Seth, Sarah, Amy, and...him was easy, but luring the Hooded Man who he doesn’t know is another story. Not to mention the quickly rising tension between himself and Alex. Alex just doesn’t get it. 

\- Begrudgingly they climb into Jay’s car and go to find Jessica. It’ll be easier to find her then the Hooded Man after all. But as Jay looks over to the passenger's side it blinds him with furry to see Alex sitting there instead of Tim. 

\- As they try to find Jessica’s location anger grows in the pit of Jay’s stomach. Was Tim really the carrier? Wouldn’t it make sense if Alex was the carrier? Alex is just as involved in this as Tim now. Jay can’t hear or see anymore. Static is all he can feel, static is all he is. He doesn’t even realize he lifting the gun, or the look of fury on Alex’s face, or the sound of Alex’s voice as he tells Jay to stop being stupid.

\- Until a bang goes off and Alex doesn’t move again.


	3. "Redemption” Ending Continuation: “It Gets Better”

\- The drive back to the motel is silent. Not one word gets uttered between the two men sat side by side. They don’t even turn the radio on; it doesn’t seem appropriate given the current mood. Jay can’t get Alex’s last moments out of his head. Did he have to shoot him in the head? Would’ve Tim died if Jay didn’t do it? Tim robotically hands Jay, a tissue as Jay reaches up to touch his face. Jay hadn’t even realized he was crying. 

\- When they reach the motel, Jay climbs into bed as Tim numbly jumps in the shower. 

\- Jay spends the next few weeks lying limply in bed. Tim never leaves his side, staying to rub Jay’s back as he shakes. Tim’s company only really makes Jay feel worse. 

\- Tim knows Jay needs help, but he isn’t sure what to do until he meets the girl in the room over named Jessica. She asks if they’re okay after seeing them shuffle in with a grim look on their face. Tim doesn’t admit everything; he tells Jessica Jay saw a friend pass recently. 

\- Jessica offers to talk to him, and Tim agrees not knowing what else to do. With a lot of encouragement from Jess and Tim, Jay decides to get up for a while to watch tv.

\- After his talk with Tim and Jess, Jay starts to get up more and more. He still has a hard time accepting everything he and Alex did, but he’s learning to live with it. Tim helps a lot by keeping the maintenance around the hotel and cooking so Jay can rest up. 

\- Jay gets into the habit of talking to air. He likes to think Seth, Amy, Sarah, and Alex can hear him and his apologies. Jay talks about his day, the books he’s read, the weather, anything he can think of to keep them up to date. 

\- Tim is having issues of his own, but he tries to keep his mind off by taking care of Jay. Guilt eats at him for Alex’s death. Jay shot him to protect Tim, Tim can’t help but think of what could’ve happened if he would’ve been strong enough to overpower Alex. He has a lot of nightmares, about Alex cursing him out for his death or Jay telling him he wished it was Tim who was dead instead. 

\- Tim was able to hide these nightmares for only a few weeks before waking up with a scream and scaring Jay to near death. Despite everything, Jay is still ever curious and can pry it out of Tim that he’s having nightmares. Jay just silently holds him, crying together for the friends they’ve lost.

\- It’s oddly therapeutic for them to cry together, leaning on each other for support and sharing old memories. 

\- Jay can’t understand why Tim can trust him after he caused the death of all their friends. For Tim, however, Jay shooting Alex to save him was enough of a redemption. Jay showed where his loyalty lay even if they both wish Jay would’ve chosen Tim’s side much earlier. 

\- Without Alex, Tim puts some cash down on a house. He can’t stay in hotels and reflecting on Alex. He can never forget what happened, but dwelling on it won’t help himself or Jay who he wants to move in with. He thought Jay’d be reluctant to move out of the motel life he’d been adapted to, but Jay agreed quickly. Tim is his home now, and where Tim goes, Jay wants to stay.

\- They still have a lot of work to do on themselves, and a long road of recovery ahead, but they know they’ll be okay. Even as they move on, they’ll remember the ones they lost, especially Jay, who’s determined never to give into The Operator’s fear again.


	4. Complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: Jay and Alex have a very complicated relationship.

"Do you ever regret what we did?"

Jay asks one day out of the blue lying on the damp, dirty mattress in the abandoned hospital. The bags under his eyes appear heavier than usual with the lack of sleep over the last few months. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees their faces. The expression worn on their faces while Jay blocked the exit, and Alex took their lives haunts him. Not that it seems to bother his partner in crime, Alex.

"No. We had to stop the infection. If we can't do this, even more people will suffer."

Taking a seat at the edge of Jay's mattress, Alex runs his hands through the long hair Jay now sports.

"I miss them too. But we have to keep going, Jay. Tim's still out there spreading it."

Jay tries to hide his grimace at the thought of another friend's death. Why is he the only one allowed to live? All his friends are gone, but he's still here. Alex seems to value his life over the others, but why still hangs in the air.

For a moment, Jay tries to ignore the pain in his heart as he leans into Alex's touch. Alex is all he has left now, for better or worse. As of lately, it seems for the worst, but as Alex bends down to kiss his tears away, that's easy to forget.

"Jay, you need to get some sleep. I know you have a lot of nightmares, I do too, but we need to get rest in case that thing shows up, and we have to run."

With that Jay's eyebrows quirk in surprise, Alex has never mentioned nightmares before.

"Nightmares?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, you have your own things to consider."

Jay knows he should fight for more information, but he's so tired. His brain can't take in any more information. Weakly sitting up, Jay pulls Alex into a hug and lets his eyes close. For right now everything is fine, but there's always tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cut to a year and a half when Jay shoots Alex in two of the three timelines.


End file.
